UAV Didn't Come from Lebanon, Claims Official

Lebanese security official denies that a drone downed by Israel last week had been sent from Lebanon.

By Elad Benari

First Publish: 4/30/2013, 5:12 AM

Israel-Lebanon border

Haggai Huberman

A Lebanese security official denied on Monday that a drone downed by the Israeli air force off the northern coast of Israel last week had been sent from Lebanon.

The unnamed official told the Lebanese An Nahar newspaper that Israel rushed to the conclusion that Hizbullah was behind the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that the Israeli military was intercepted off the coast of Haifa last Thursday.

He claimed that UNIFIL's naval contingent is heavily deployed at sea and in Lebanon's territorial waters and could have seen any movement if the drone was sent from Lebanon.

The official suggested the UAV could have been sent by an Israeli amateur from his country's coast or Hamas could have been behind it.

Hizbullah was fingered by Israel as being behind the incident, but the terror group denied “sending any unmanned drone towards occupied Palestine.”